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I dug it out from a big pile of samples, and haven’t figured out who gave it to me :-p

But, wow, this is Nan Mei Village! The tea is from 2009, but to my surprise, it barely has any bitterness and has only very slight astringency which disappears instantly. There is a smooth, sugary taste that brings me some warm feeling. Normally I am very reluctant to have a sheng younger than 3 years because I constantly feel it would make me feel cold (probably from the harsh taste, the stimulation to stomach and something hard to explain). But I am totally comfortable with this one. I may get a bunch and still wait for another few years before drinking it up, just for the sake of metal comfort :-p

I got a generous sample of probably 10g. I put all of it in a 150 teapot, used boiling water and about 10-15 second for the first several infusions. I didn’t pay much attention to the dry leaves. But then, surprised by the nice taste, I peeped in the teapot and took a look at the leaves. They are very beautiful!

I have heard of Nan Mei Village for a few times and this is the first time I’ve tasted some tea from there. I have a special love to Bing Dao tea. It usually has very clear and refreshing aroma as well as a nice sugary taste. Nan Mei Village is very close to Bing Dao, and many people say some Bing Dao tea is actually from Nan Mei Village because their tastes are somewhat similar. But a tea labeled as Nan Mei tea is much less expensive than a tea labeled as Bing Dao tea.

From now on, both Bing Dao and Nan Mei are sweet names on my list of Sheng! This 2009 Nan Mei tea is probably the tastiest new Sheng I’ve ever had. I am actually not sure at all if such a smooth Sheng has any potential for aging of longer than 10 years. I doubt you can have both ends. But I think it’s already great if it tastes great NOW!